This recipe from Jack Croft and Will Murray of Fallow celebrates super sustainable mussels. In the restaurant, the chefs use mussels from the River Teign, and sriracha made with English chillies. The mussels are gently smoked, and served with lightly charred broccoli and pickled lemons and shallots. To take this recipe up a notch, mix in 10g confit garlic after adding the sriracha. To make it slightly simpler, swap out the butter emulsion for 100g double cream.
The day before serving, prepare the pickled shallots and lemons. Peel and very finely slice the shallots lengthways on a mandoline, approx. 1-2mm thick
Wash the shallots well in cold water to remove some of the rawness of the onion, then drain
Add the salt, sugar, vinegar and water to a pan and warm through until the sugar and salt dissolve. Set aside to cool
Submerge the shallots in the pickle and pickle for a minimum of 24 hours. Store in the fridge until needed
To make the pickled lemons, add the water, vinegar, and caster sugar to a small pan. Place the pan over a medium heat and warm through, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. This should take about a minute
Place the pickling liquid and lemons into a container and leave to steep for a minimum of 24 hours. Store in the fridge until needed
The day of serving, make the butter emulsion. Add 30g of the butter and water to a pan. Place on a high heat and bring the mixture to a rolling boil
Once at a rolling boil, remove the pan from the heat
Blend the butter and water mixture with a hand blender. While blending, slowly add the remaining 10g cold butter until fully incorporated. Season with salt to taste
Set aside and leave at room temperature whilst preparing the rest of the dish
Heat up a grill to high
Drain the pickled lemons, reserving the pickling liquid
Whisk together 100ml of the pickling liquid, 100ml oil and a pinch of salt to form a dressing. Set aside
Griddle the whole broccoli florets on the grill or in a pan until just cooked through
Take off the heat, season to taste with salt and pepper then mix with 1 tbsp pickled lemon dressing and set aside
Heat a large pan over a high heat then add 2 tbsps of rapeseed oil. Once the oil starts to smoke, add the finely sliced broccoli stems and sauté for 1 minute
Add the mussels to the pan and sauté for one minute. If the pan is hot enough, flame should wrap around the pan and infuse the mussels with a lovely smoky flavour. However, take care to always watch the pan
Deglaze with a splash of white wine and remove from the heat
Add the sriracha and butter emulsion to the mussels, mix well and cook for a couple minutes until slightly reduced
Add 25g pickled shallots and a spoonful of the pickled lemons and mix again
Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning until it tastes balanced - if it needs more acidity add the remaining liquid from the pickled lemons
Grill the slices of bread until crisp
Place one slice of grilled bread on the bottom of each serving bowl
Pour your mussels into the bowls on top of the bread and garnish with the grilled broccoli florets, pickled lemon slices and a final drizzle of the remaining pickled lemon dressing
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